“When we do the baking for the two months leading up to the Cookarama, we have all ages together,” says Zucker, who volunteers with the synagogue’s preschool, a beneficiary of Denver’s biggest kosher bake sale.

“The grandmothers and the great- grandmothers come around and say, ‘This is too thin, this is too thick, knead it like this.’ The stories you hear as you’re kneading the doughs are amazing. There’s one Holocaust survivor in her 90s who makes chiffon cakes and the most beautiful braided challah. There was so much history woven into that bread – our intergenerational story was in that braid.”

As they do today, the women of Denver’s early Jewish community got the matzo ball rolling. The Hebrew alliance began life as the Denver Hebrew Institute in 1920 at 14th West Avenue and Newton Street, and throughout the Depression and the war years, women cooked for fundraisers that enabled the congregation to grow and prosper. The synagogue eventually moved across town to 3600 S. Ivanhoe St., but its mission remains the same.

“We have members who grew up at the HEA – these women are so with it,” says Zucker. “As a woman in my 30s, it’s amazing to me how much knowledge they have about the history of Denver, the history of the congregation. Most of our activities are geared to benefit the next generation, so it comes full circle.”

Perfect Passover Kugel

Marilyn Huttner gave this recipe to Ketsie Klausner, who tweaked it and entered it in the Cookarama Kugel Cook-Off. Doubles well. This recipe serves 8-10.

Ingredients

16 ounces yams

16 ounces carrots

16 ounces Granny Smith apples

8 ounces Rome Beauty apples

2 cubes pareve margarine

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup white sugar

1/4 cup sweet kosher wine

1 cup matzo meal

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

Cooking spray

Directions

Peel and grate yams and carrots. Peel, core and grate apples. Melt 1 1/2 cubes margarine and combine with all ingredients in a large bowl; mix well.

If making ahead, cool, wrap well in plastic wrap and freeze. To serve, defrost in refrigerator, wrapped, for 2 days. Bring to room temperature. Heat in 350-degree oven 30 minutes, watching carefully that it does not burn.

Bubbalita Schoen’s Famous Noodle Kugel from Miami

Jennifer Zucker won the first Cookarama Kugel Contest with this rich but fluffy noodle pudding recipe she got from her mother, Joanne Schoen. Reduced-fat cream cheese and sour cream, and sugar substitutes work fine, says Zucker. If you are having a dairy seder, this would make an excellent side dish or dessert – just use kosher-for-Passover noodles and add 1/2 cup orange juice, says Zucker, because Passover noodles absorb more liquid. Serves 8-10.

Ingredients

1 package thin egg noodles

1 cup sour cream

1 cup sugar, plus about 1 tablespoon

Dash of vanilla

8 ounces cream cheese

6 eggs

8 ounces (2 sticks) butter (use 1 stick to reduce fat)

Dash of cinnamon

Dash of nutmeg

12-ounce can mandarin oranges, with liquid

1 cup cran-raisins

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Boil egg noodles. Drain and pour into a greased 9-by-13-inch pan. Mix all ingredients (including liquid from mandarin oranges) except oranges and cran-raisins together until they make a well-blended liquid. Pour over noodles. Stir oranges and cran-raisins into pan. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon sugar on top. Bake 50-70 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

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